Erik Joh finally got his 1500 hop
plants, and we (Dan Koller, 5 others and I) planted them all before NHC.This photo shows about 1/8 of the huge field.

The National Homebrewers Conference
was held June 9 to 12 in Baltimore, with 8 of us attending; Jim & Carrie
Burt, Adam Hawley (his brother Justin hung out with us, too), Rich Andel, Tom
Owens, and Don Zwach (most of you have never met Don, but he’s an old time BIER
member, who’s been living in B’more).There
were about 3,500 of us, in total.We saw
many old friends, and were able to discuss all things beer with some of
them.I won’t insert a long list of
Homebrew rock stars here, but Gary Glass, Randy Mosher, Tasty McDole, Brad Smith,
Denny Conn, Drew Beechum, Charlie Papazian, and John Palmer are on the short
list.The 2nd Round Judging
went very smoothly.Dave King (2)
Stewarded the Other American Ales (Ambers and Brown Ales) tables in the am, and
Fruit Meads in the pm, They were all very good.We had 3 Stewards for 5 pairs of judges, in both cases.Etienne Bourgeois, a good friend in the
Treasure Coast BrewMasters, took a medal!The Seminars were good.Pro Night
was a good Brew Fest, featuring local beers. ClubNight was crazy, and
we were able to share 7 different beers, not bad for a small club.We need to have 2 nights of Club Night, there’s
just too much going on.The last event
was the Banquet, I was able to do
with my Florida club, the Treasure Coast BrewMasters.The meal was very good.Next year the NHC will be in Minneapolis, a
short plane ride away.I’ll be there,
will you?

Dan Koller says the Syracuse Fest went well.Some of us were in B’more at the NHC.

Hopshire
had their 3rd Birthday celebration June the 18th, with a
couple of good bands, a really good BBQ truck, and Randy’s great brews.I was there for a while, but had to go to Zoo
Brew.

ZooBrew went really
well, especially weather wise.It was
small, there were about 7 breweries, the food was basic, but very good.Dan Koller, Astrid, Dave King (1), Donna and
Bernie, and I helped.They had a few too
many volunteers, but it didn’t matter.We talked HB with a few folks (and sent them to Doc’s), signed up 2 new
members, drank some good beer, talked to reps from a couple new breweries.Lots of fun. I look forward to next year’s.Join us!

Binghamton
Brewing is producing fine beers, while continuing with their work to
open a restaurant next door, and now, we hear they’re going to be doing a
tasting room and food counter at the Broome County Airport.Woo, big things coming.

John and Michele are doing well at Water St. Brewing, they put
lots of info on Facebook, good place
to keep up.They’re moving to
Binghamton, on the West Side, so John can ride his bike to work.Sorry Vestal, your loss is our gain.

Marty and Natalie are inviting people to challenge their taste buds at Farmhouse Brewing’s Tap Room
in Owego. Their 2nd Anniversary
is coming up, July 9 & 10.Don’t
miss it.

Seth continues to try and satisfy the huge demand for their Galaxy
Brewing beers.

Zach, Eric, and Kyle at The North, keeps their radical
brews coming, along with his barrel program.Stop by, you’ll be happily surprised.

Bob brought, and served popcorn and pretzels.He also brought a cooler, got ice from
Brothers 2, and cooled down our Homebrews until we could start sampling.Bob, you’re too good to us.

On to the beer!

Homebrew Tastings;

Chris Given – SMASH, “Some Mosaic
And Simcoe Hops,” leave it to Chris to come up with this one.Actually, very nice, sessionable, at 1.050 to
1.007, 5.7% ABV.A very tasty extract
brew, Pilsner LME, with Melanoidan, CaraPils, Red Wheat, and Vienna malts,
spiced with Mosaic and Simcoe.

Chris Given – Brown Ale, with
Centennial hops, a little peat smoked and kilned coffee malts add some nice notes.It went from 1.058 to 1.016, so 5.5% ABV, inspirational!

Dave King – Dad’s Brown Ale, a somewhat
bitter, West Coast style American Brown Ale, similar to Tasty McDole’s Janet’s
Brown Ale, 85 IBU, and lots of C hops, late in the boil, hop back, and dry hop.
The last dry hop was for 4 days right before NHC Club Night.Tasty said it didn’t suck, at Club Night.

Chris Given –Scotch Ale, with 7 oz. of
Scotch whiskey in a 2.5 gal. batch, rich dark malty, smoky flavor.Chris has been to Scotland, attended a
Scottish 12 hr. wedding, and drank lots of fresh Guinness.It’s good to be Chris!

Adam – American Amber, a fine
hoppy, yet malty brew, served at the Mom’s House Fest.Ymmm, thanks, Adam.

Jim Burt – Rye IPA, served at the National
AHA Conference, and was very well received.26% Rye, nice body, spicy rye flavor, and good IPA bitterness.Dry, very drinkable, but satisfying.

Rich – Hop Fu
IPA, firmly bitter, good hop aroma, 7.5% ABV, what a hop head calls
sessionable.One of 2 gushed, the other
was fine.Even the best brewers have
this happen, once in a while.I think
this one took a Brewer’s Gold at the Mom’s House contest.

Roger – Chili
Cabernet Sauvignon, another very nice example of Roger’s skill at turning
grape juice into a treat.

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Great beer & wine, lots of fine friends.Thanks to Fil for allowing us to meet at Brothers 2.

See you July, 13th, at Brothers 2!7:30, and don’t forget to label your brews,
and either send me your recipe, or drop off a copy at the meeting, my scanner
works fine.